Young adult homeowners admit they know little about home maintenance. As repairs are deferred, homes are beginning to show the effect.

Puronics, a company that provides water softener treatment solutions, surveyed more than 1,000 millennials aged 25 to 40 to find out how knowledgeable they are about home maintenance.

Millennials are least likely to know how to do the following home maintenance tasks, according to the survey:

• Fix leaky faucet: 60%
• Caulk tile: 53%
• Fix garbage disposal: 52%
• Clean dishwasher filter: 49%
• Replace refrigerator water filter (among those with refrigerator water filters): 43%
• Clean showerhead: 29%
• Replace air filter: 22%
• Reset tripped fuse: 19%
• Manually flush toilet: 8%
• Unclog toilet: 6%

Part of the problem may be that millennials may not own the tools to do the maintenance. Fifty-four percent of the young adults surveyed say they don’t own a stud finder, 30% don’t own a ladder, 27% don’t own a level, and 13% don’t own a toolbox. One in 10 millennials don’t know the difference between a flat and a Phillips screwdriver, the survey also found.

To find help with home maintenance, millennials overwhelmingly say they most often turn to Google or YouTube—86% and 85%, respectively. Sixty-two percent ask their parents and 42% seek the help of a professional, the survey shows.

Home maintenance is overwhelming to many young adults, so much so it may even deter them from buying a home. Forty-five percent of millennials who rent say the thought of home maintenance expenses prevent them from buying a home, according to the Puronics survey.

Source: "Millennials Short on Skills, Tools for Home Maintenance"